Worried by a surge in abductions, youths and community leaders in Isin Local Government Area of Kwara State on Saturday blocked the Ilorin–Omu-Aran–Kabba Highway, demanding urgent government intervention.
The protest, which began around 8 a.m., brought traffic to a halt as demonstrators mounted barricades, sang solidarity songs, and displayed placards with inscriptions such as “Enough is Enough,” “Stop Kidnapping Our People,” and “We Are Tired of Paying Ransom Without Results.”
Participants drawn from Isanlu-Isin, Oke-Onigbin, and Edidi communities were joined by traditional chiefs, who decried the worsening security situation.
They lamented that frequent kidnappings had crippled farming and business activities, leaving residents in fear and deepening economic hardship.
The Odee of Isanlu-Isin, Chief Michael Ayanda, said millions of naira had been paid in ransom with little result.
“We have paid N30m for two people earlier kidnapped, yet they have not been released.
Now the kidnappers are asking for more money,” he told reporters.
Ayanda also revealed that seven vigilantes who went after the abductors were still missing, with one confirmed dead and 30 motorcycles belonging to the search party destroyed.
In a phone call to the protesters, the Olusin of Ijara-Isin, Oba Ademola Julus, appealed for calm, assuring them that he was already in Abuja to engage the National Security Adviser on the crisis.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, through a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, commended the vigilantes for their courage in confronting the bandits.